June 12, 2021 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Sporting Kansas City News Release
Daniel Salloi bagged his fourth goal of the season as Sporting Kansas City (5-2-2, 17 points) came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw against Austin FC (2-4-2, 8 points) in an enthralling encounter on Saturday afternoon at sun-drenched Children’s Mercy Park.
The 150th MLS sellout in stadium history saw Austin FC take a 1-0 lead in the first half through Cecilio Dominguez, but Sporting’s stranglehold on proceedings was rewarded in the 71st minute when Salloi cashed in on one of 32 shot attempts for the hosts, who pushed their unbeaten run to four games. Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver made a career-high nine saves but was unable to prevent Sporting from extending their regular season home scoring streak to 20 matches, which ties a club record first set from 2011-2012.
The breathless stalemate moves Sporting within a point of Seattle Sounders FC in the Supporters’ Shield race ahead of a trip to the Portland Timbers (3-4-0, 9 points) next Saturday at 9:30 p.m. CT. The Western Conference clash will be shown live on Bally Sports Kansas City and Bally Sports Midwest.
Presiding over his 450th competitive match as Sporting Kansas City’s manager, Peter Vermes was prompted to make two changes to his starting XI from a 3-2 home win over Houston Dynamo FC on May 29. With forward Alan Pulido on international duty with Mexico and midfielder Gadi Kinda observing heath and safety protocols following his stint with the Israeli national team, captain Johnny Russell and Frenchman Remi Walter jumped into the lineup for their first starts since May 12. In defense, veteran right back Graham Zusi notably logged his 349th career appearance for Sporting in all competitions, passing Austin FC center back and former teammate Matt Besler for the most in club history.
The hosts seized attacking initiative and peppered Austin’s attacking third for the first 15 minutes, but the game’s first shot on target fell to the visitors when Jared Stroud cut centrally from the right side and forced Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia into a strong save at the near post.
Sporting remained dangerous on the opposite end and Russell nearly fired his team ahead in stunning fashion with 24 minutes on the clock. The Scottish winger did brilliantly to chest down a 50-yard long ball from Ilie Sanchez and uncork a left-footed volley that fizzed inches wide of Stuver’s left-hand post.
Despite conceding the lion’s share of possession and absorbing pressure in the early stages, Austin landed the first punch against the run of play in the 26th minute. Dominguez settled a pass from Zan Kolmanic at the top of the penalty area, took a touch and sent a low right-footed strike across Melia and into the corner. Austin’s Designated Player bagged his third goal of the year on the play and snapped his team’s scoreless draught at 378 minutes — a run that dated back to May 9 when Jon Gallagher scored for Los Verdes in a 2-1 loss to Sporting at Children’s Mercy Park.
A spirited search for an equalizer saw Sporting threaten multiple times before intermission. Near the half-hour mark, Walter beat his defender along the left side of the box and pulled the ball back to Salloi, who pirouetted past an opponent and dragged a shot that missed marginally. Stuver denied Roger Espinoza five minutes later after Russell leapt in the penalty area to head the ball into the path of his Honduran teammate.
On the cusp of halftime — shortly after Sporting were forced into a pair of injury-related substitutions as Felipe Hernandez and Jaylin Lindsey replaced Walter and Zusi, respectively — Salloi was left ruing his luck when Stuver touched his acrobatic shot onto the crossbar. The game continued to stretch in frantic fashion and Gallagher spurned an opportunity to double Austin’s advantage in first-half stoppage time when he his breakaway effort missed the target.
Hernandez had a positive impact in his cameo role and almost drew Sporting level in the 47th minute, latching onto a pass from Russell only to see his blast repelled by Stuver. Hernandez tried his luck again in the 54th minute but the shot was blocked through traffic and Salloi’s rebound attempt sailed high.
Austin were active on the counterattack and could have put the game out of reach after an hour, but Melia produced a splendid reflex save with his outstretched mitt to thwart Dominguez one on one.
Salloi provided Sporting’s deserved breakthrough on 71 minutes. Gianluca Busio advanced into the attacking third and had a long-range strike take a deflection goalward. Russell was quick to beat Stuver to the ball and an opportunity fell to Salloi, who slammed home the rebound to restore parity. The Hungarian Homegrown winger is now tied for third in MLS with six combined goals (four) and assists (two), while Sporting leads MLS the league with 16 goals in 2021.
The final quarter-hour hung on a knife-edge as Sporting swarmed forward in search of a winner while Austin defended deep and broke on the counter. Substitute Manny Perez wasted a breakaway chance for Austin in the 76th minute, seconds before Stuver cast aside Russell’s thundering shot on the other end of the pitch.
The expansion side had another look go begging in the 81st minute when Rodney Redes couldn’t Perez’s cross on frame. They were nearly made to pay for the miss on 85 minutes when Andreu Fontas — who completed 93 of 97 passes — picked out Russell, whose sublime back heel flick to Khiry Shelton merely set up Stuver to make another heroic save.
QUOTES Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Opening comments on Denmark Men’s National Team forward Christian Eriksen…
From myself and the entire organization, I want to say that we’re with Christian Eriksen and his family. What an unbelievable situation today on the field. That was just incredible. I don’t know any more news than what I heard before so I know that he was stabilized and that’s great news. Our thoughts are with him and his family. We hope that he has a recovery and he’s okay. It was a crazy situation today and could have been a lot worse. Thank God that it’s not.
Thoughts on the match…
I thought their goalkeeper stood on his head. I thought that were a few chances we could have done much better with. Is it a fair result? They would say yes. They had a couple chances, they would say. But the number of high-quality chances that we had was a different level. We had great possession. I’m really proud that our performances, in the last 3-4 games, have been tremendous and they’re steady and there is a consistency to it. That’s what you’re striving for. That part I’m really, really happy with. Their goalkeeper kept them in the game for sure.
On the play of Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver…
It seems like there are a lot of goalkeepers that come into this place and wind up having a good game here. We also just need to be better in those situations. I don’t fault the guys today. The commitment was unreal. The performance was great. The number of chances and the quality of chances were there and to fight back after being down 1-0. It was kind of a strange play in the way they scored. The ball might have even been going out of bounds but Daniel (Salloi) actually headed it to try to save it but he actually heads it and puts the guy forward a little bit. It’s one of those strange ones. Credit to our guys for being able to come back again. That’s different level to me and shows a great mentality.
On the effect of Christian Eriksen’s situation on the team…
It would have been much different I think if the outcome would have been different because it was not looking good while he was on the field. I think most people who are soccer fans and were watching the game understood that. I’m glad that it turned out the way that it did and I think both teams were okay at that point.
On if it’s a concern with the team falling behind in matches…
It’s not at all. I think that when you play the way that we’ve been playing the last 4.5 games and the way that we’re playing, it’s going to continue to keep yielding results. It’s one thing to possess the ball. It’s another thing to possess the ball and create high-quality chances and we’re doing that. Maybe we didn’t find the net today like we should have, but I wouldn’t chastise the guys for that. Sometimes that happens in soccer. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to their goalkeeper. He was standing on his head in some moments. And then some other ones, maybe we could have been a little bit calmer in those situations. Our movement off the ball, our circulation of the ball, playing in between the lines, creating numbers up out wide, the number of services in the box – I’m very, very pleased with the way that the guys are evolving so early on in the season in the way that we’re playing.
On Daniel Salloi hitting a groove…
I think he was from the start of preseason because we talked so much about that. It’s a new season so what do you have to fall back on, right? You’re starting new so there is nothing you need to think about. For him, he started off very well. He came in with the right mentality. I say it all the time, it’s not the goals. It’s the other work that he does that then creates the chances for you. You make your own luck and that’s what he’s doing. It wasn’t like he dribbled six guys and served the ball into the far post. It was a play where again he finds himself in a really good position but he’s ready for it. We talk about that all the time. When we’re going to the goal, there are areas that we need to also cover because if the ball pops out, we have to be ready for it. He was in that area. That’s a good decision by him. It takes work to get there and he did that.
Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi
On how the goal came about…
We find ourselves in great positions, and we must have the most chances in the league because it’s ridiculous. We should score five goals every game but props to Austin. I think they have a great defense and they did really well and they’re a tough team to break down. If we were a little bit luckier, then we could have won the game. I think we can’t be sad about this point. It’s a tough game, tough conditions, hot. It’s very difficult. I’m just happy that we found a way to tie it.
On the team’s ability to bounce back after giving up early goals…
Obviously we don’t want to give up goals, but it happens. You can’t blame the defense. It’s the whole team. I think offensively, we are very creative this year. We are all putting everything out there. I think it looks good from inside and outside, and we need to find more ways to score goals in these games. So far it’s been working. Obviously you’re going to tie and lose some games, but you’ve just got to keep going.
On how his goal felt…
It was great. I love our fans and it’s so nice playing in front of a full stadium. I hope you can see how motivated we all are. We are just trying to do everything we can and keep pushing, trying to entertain the crowd and win games. I’m just happy I could be the one who scored and it would have been even nicer if we got the win, but onto the next one.
On the play Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver…
He played very well. We already talked about it in the locker room. Johnny had an unlucky day, I could have scored more goals, Khiry (Shelton) as well. We all had our chances and it’s just one of those when you have to say ‘well done’ to the other goalkeeper. We’re not getting frustrated, we just keep pushing. I don’t feel frustration about the team. I think we’re just even more motivated to find a way to win the game.
On his attempt Stuver flicked onto the crossbar…
This happened really quickly. When I’m in the box, I always try to be on my toes and wait for those balls to bounce anywhere. Just like how I scored the goal. I just try to find a way to put it on target and direct it towards goal. That’s what I tried there, and if I were more lucky it goes in. It was a great save to be fair.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Felipe Hernandez
On the advice he was given going into the game…
It was pretty quick. Just come out and do whatever we work on during training. Keep the intensity high and bring some energy to the game. That’s what I try to do when I come in.
On Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver…
Props to him. It’s one of those days where you’ve just got to tip your hat to him and tell him he had a good game. Obviously, we didn’t really get frustrated because we created 20 chances. He came up with some big saves, but that shows a lot of good things about our team that a keeper makes a save and we just keep going. We’re relentless. Today’s unlucky that we didn’t get the three points, but I’m happy to get one.
2021 MLS Regular Season | Match 9
Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 18,519
Weather: 86 degrees and sunny
Score 1 2 F
Sporting Kansas City (5-2-2, 17 points) 0 1 1
Austin FC (2-4-2, 8 points) 1 0 1
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Graham Zusi (Jaylin Lindsey 42′), Ilie Sanchez, Andreu Fontas, Luis Martins; Gianluca Busio, Roger Espinoza, Remi Walter (Felipe Hernandez 41′ [Wilson Harris 87′]); Johnny Russell (C), Khiry Shelton, Daniel Salloi
Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Amadou Dia, Roberto Puncec, Kaveh Rad, Cam Duke, Grayson Barber
Austin FC: Brad Stuver; Nick Lima, Julio Cascante, Matt Besler, Zan Kolmanic; Tomas Pochettino (Sebastian Berhalter 59′), Alex Ring (C), Diego Fagundez (Jhohan Romana 79′); Jared Stroud (Rodney Redes 70′), Cecilio Dominguez (Kekuta Manneh 70′), Jon Gallagher (Manny Perez 59′)
Subs Not Used: Will Pulisic, Andrew Tarbell, Frederik Kleeman, Aedan Stanley
Scoring Summary:
ATX — Cecilio Dominguez 3 (Zan Kolmanic 2) 26′
SKC — Daniel Salloi 4 (Johnny Russell 2) 71′
Misconduct Summary:
SKC — Remi Walter (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 32′
ATX — Matt Besler (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 79′
ATX — Nick Lima (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 90′
Stat SKC ATX
Shots 32 9
Shots on Goal 11 2
Saves 1 9
Fouls 8 6
Offsides 2 2
Corner Kicks 13 2
Referee: Robert Sibiga
Assistant Referee: Frank Anderson
Assistant Referee: Jeffrey Swartzel
Fourth Official: Alan Kelly
VAR: Joseph Dickerson
AVAR: Chantal Boudreau
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